


Sophia's Angels

by islashlove



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-02
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-11-23 10:22:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islashlove/pseuds/islashlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based after the first episode of season two. Sophia doesn’t get turned, instead she is found by two soldiers who are a sister and brother duo. They try to get Sophia back to the group, but at what cost and what is one of them hiding. Plus, the group as a whole and as individuals will have to have a really, really hard look at themselves and how, they view the new world they were now living in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Angel’s Come in Many Shapes and Sizes

Ashley Jones felt the beads of sweet slip down her face and neck as the gun she was holding was pointing straight at the picture of innocence. A girl, no older than nine, was standing in front of her. She sported two blonde pony tails and had big blue doe eyes overflowing with tears which washed over the face of a pure angel. The only thing that stood out about Ashley was her arm, which had a huge chunk of flesh missing and blood running down it and onto her polka-dotted dress.

"Do it, Jones, or I'll pull the trigger and blow your brains all over this joint," Sergeant Fretz threatened to the soldier standing in front of him. He hoped he wouldn’t have to pull the trigger on the young soldier; she and her brother were the best soldiers he'd seen, other than himself. Also, another nagging reason at the back of his head was that he had been the only father figure in the siblings’ life.

"Do it, sissy, please," Alex begged from the other side of her. They'd already lost the rest of their family and if he lost her, then there would be nothing left for him to live for. He didn't like what they were ordered to do, but it couldn't be helped. The little girl had been bitten, so therefore she had to be eliminated.

Ashley took a big breath as she looked at the little girl in front of her. "What's your name, darling?" she asked. She knew this wasn't the time to ask, but it just slipped out. The little girl sniffled, rubbing her eyes she looked up at the women in front of her 

"Elena".

"That's a wonderful name. Where is your mum, darling?" Ashley asked.

Fretz relaxed his hold on the gun, he remembered this technique. He felt himself letting out the breath that he didn't even realise he was holding.

"I, I don't know, a man b...bite her, and she went into the kitchen, and then the man bite me," Elena whimpered.

"Okay, sweetheart, I need you to close your eyes for me. You'll be able to see your mum real soon," Ashley said.

"Ok," she sniffed grabbing a hold of the white puppy next to her and cuddled into it as if it was a teddy bear, before closing her eyes. Her mum appeared in front of her. She was dressed all in white; smiling. A man in a military uniform stood next to her mum, with his arms around her waist and an ear to ear grin on his face.

Ashley took a deep breath before taking her silencer in her right hand, slowly, taking aim at the girl’s head. Everything was silent before Ashley pulled the trigger. But, right before the bullet hit the little girl, she opened her eyes. All you could see in the depths of them was curiosity and love. It made Ashley wonder what she was seeing.

The little girl's body fell to the ground. They were all too busy looking at the child and thinking about what they had just done that no one heard the moaning coming from behind Fretz, until it grew louder. All three soldiers turned around and Sergeant Fretz came face to face with a walker. It had long blonde hair that was matted with blood and an eyeball hanging out of its socket. Time seemed to slow down as the walker bit into Fretz. He started screaming and cursing as he slammed his fist into the walker’s face. It immediately let go of his neck only to try to get him again.

Ashley was the first person to move into action. She ran, tackling the walker as it had pinned Fretz to the floor. While Ashley fought the walker, Alex went to check on the Sergeant, who was still on the floor holding the side of his neck. Both walker and human rolled around trying to gain an upper hand over the other. Suddenly, Ashley remembered the gun in her hand and brought it slamming down on the walker’s head. Once, twice and the third time was the charm. Breathing heavily, Ashley pushed the walker off and raised her head, so she could look at her brother and at the Sergeant. Realising the situation, she jumped up and rushed straight over to them.

Ashley knelt down on the right side of Fretz, as Alex was on his left. The man was taking in gulps of air as he tried fighting to keep his eyes open, but failing miserable. Fretz leaned forward pulling his dog tags off; the movement alone caused more blood to flow from the injury. He looked up slightly seeing both adults in his fading eye sight. He coughed up more blood, before handing his tags to Alex. He then looked over to Ashley, who looked like the vulnerable girl from years ago, when she cried because her dog died.

"I need you to be strong for me, Ashley," he said sweeping dark brown bangs out of her face and showing her glazed-over, grey eyes. "Talk to me, Ashley, I want to die in peace listening to your soft voice," he said feeling his own breathing slow down.

Ashley moved her brother’s hand away and sat, so Fretz' head was on her lap. She took a deep breath before she started to talk.

“It was killing me to see the strongest man I had ever known wasting away to nothing in that hospital room. ‘You know he's only hanging on for you.’ That's what the night nurse said. My, my voice and heart were breaking as I crawled up in his bed and said to him that he could let go now. ‘You can let go now, Daddy, you can let go. Your little girl, she’s ready to do this on her own now. It's gonna be a little bit scary, but I want you to know I'll be ok, Daddy. So, you can let go. You can rest now, in peace."

The words faded into a whisper, as a smile slipped onto Fretz face. His chest stopped rising as he took his last breath. Nothing moved, no sound escaped from the two siblings, as they sat there and stared at their Sergeant’s body. A single tear ran down each of their faces dropping onto the floor.

Ashley was the first to move, shifting slightly to place Fretz’s head gently onto the floor. She carefully removed his leather jacket so she would always have a memory of him. But she doubted that she could ever forget him because of all the things he had taught her and all the things they'd done together. Her first target practice when she hit the bulls eyes bang on, when she fell off her bike and banged her knee and he kissed it better, When she finished her training and came out top of her class and when she was assigned into his squad. Sergeant Fretz had been part of their family as far back as she could remember. He was their father’s best friend and then, after his death, they borrowed him as their dad.

Alex wiped his hands over his face, ridding it of any tears. He stood up and walked to the kitchen. The cupboards and walls were covered with blood and lying on the floor was a hand. Alex was just about to wash his hands when he heard a groan from behind him and immediately stopped. He slowly moved his arm as he grabbed for his rifle, but then remembered he had left it in the hallway. He slowly turned around to see a rotting corpse, or well what looked like one, walking out of an open closet. He slowly reached down to his boot in search of the handle of his knife, only to come up empty.

Ashley was staring at a photo on the wall. It was of Elena and an older woman who looked like she was in her early twenties. She had dark brown eyes with fiery red hair. They looked to be in a park on the swing set. Ashley pulled her eyes away from the picture to look over at Elena and saw the white puppy that she was still gripping. She straightened up and put the leather jacket on over top of her camouflage tank top that could be mistaken for a black one. She reached down and eased the scared puppy from the lifeless child’s clutches. Elena’s blood was now soaked into the fur, and was turning Ashley’s hands red. Ashley pulled a bit of rope from her belt and looped it through the metal ring attached to the collar.

"ASHLEY!"

She bolted into the kitchen to find her brother on the floor with a walker on top of him. One of his hands was under its jaw and the other trying to keep it from scratching him. It was covered in soot and rubble with chunks of flesh missing from his arms. She carefully pulled her knife from her boot and ran over to her brother, plunging it down on the back of the walker’s head.

Alex was losing the fight as his arms started to get heavy. The walker's head was only inches away from his own. The tip of a knife suddenly emerged from its head, touching his nose. The blood seeped into the words which were carved into the blade of the knife. 

On the right side it read. 'May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.' and on the left side. 'I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.' He quickly pushed the walker off of him to look up in to the grey eyes that held anger, loss and one thing that he'd never want to see in her eyes, wildness. She was losing herself after all these months, but all emotions were gone in a blink of an eye. "Where the fuck is your knife?" she asked, carelessly wiping hers on her trousers, while Alex picked himself up.

Alex ignored her, as he picked up a can of gasoline; stopping only for a second to wonder why in the hell was it there, if there was a child in the house. Shaking his head to rid it of any thoughts, he started to pour the liquid over every surface he could find, passing the bodies as he did so. As he finished up he noticed that Ashley was wearing Fretz's leather jacket. It had an A in the middle of it, with a hellhound standing behind it. Ash always said she liked it and when she asked to borrow it he always said ‘Over my dead body’. Ironic, wasn’t it.

As Alex prepared to burn the house down, Ashley made her way down to the basement. She didn't know why she was down there but something was pulling at her, making her go down the old stairs and she hated it. Basements were death traps and everybody knew it, especially in the world they now lived in. And they were creepy as fuck as well. She slowly inched herself down the stairs, pointing her rifle in each direction, not trusting the dark. But the dark still got to her.

She didn’t notice a pile of clothing on the last step and she got her foot caught, sending her off balance and sending her rifle skittering across the floor. Falling forward way too fast, she was unable to stop herself from hitting her head on the corner of the table, making a gash on her cheek. Pain shot up her left arm as her left hand hit the floor and from what she could tell, her foot was only twisted, not broken. 

Groaning in pain, she moved so she was on her back, pressing her hand to her cheek. She barely noticed something move in the corner of the room where her rifle had fallen. Or the fact that the thing that was moving was holding the weapon, pointing it straight at her. Ashley went to open her mouth, when gun was unloaded into her right knee. Screaming in pain, Ashley desperately tried to stop the bleeding.

Alex heard the shots, then Ashley’s screams. Picking up his rifle after dropping the gasoline can, he ran towards the noise. Alex found his sister near the bottom of the stairs with someone standing over her. They were both trying to stop the bleeding. From what he could see, the other hand on the wound was much smaller than his sister’s. A scream ripped him from his thoughts. He ran down the stairs, kneeling next to his sister. He pulled his tank top off, ripping it into long pieces of cloth and put it on the wounds round her knee; he then tied a knot in it. He looked up at the stranger to curse at him, only to find a little girl, no older then twelve, staring back at him. Her greasy blonde hair was held back with a red hair band. Freckles covered her nose and cheeks, with dark brown eyes peering out from pale skin. She kept on mumbling that she was so sorry, over and over.

"WOULD YOU SHUT HER THE FUCK UP, I'M THE ONE THAT GOT SHOT!" Ashley shouted, hissing in pain when she felt fingers press in to her cheek.

"Ok, just, just watch your language; she's just a kid,” Alex said as he had a closer look at the wound on his sister’s face.

“A KID, that girl should be locked away fo- WHAT THE FUCK!" She shouted when Alex applied more pressure to the wound on her knee.

Sophia looked at the two strangers with fear and curiosity. She hadn't seen people for nearly two days. She was wondering if they would be able to take her home or at least back to the RV.

"Come on, Ash, we got you up and running again," Alex said helping his younger sibling to her feet. He looked at the little girl "What's your name, girly?”

"Sophia. And I’m not a kid, I’m twelve.” she said shyly as she noticed he didn't have a top on. 

Ashley saw the way the girl was looking at her brother. "God sake, why'd ya' rip your shirt for?” She pointed to the pile of clothes by the stairs. “There’s one down there, dumdums," Ashley mumbled. She felt herself being picked up and placed on the nearby table. She closed her eyes against the pain.

"Ah, quit your moaning, Ash. Now, Sophia, I need you to hold that in place, tightly, while I go fetch a bandage," Alex said motioning to the cloth he was holding down on the wound.

Sophia nodded and quickly moved over to the injured stranger. She looked up at the face, which was covered in sweat and had a pained look etched across it. Dark brown hair was pulled up into a messy pony tail. When the stranger opened her eyes, Sophia was caught up in their dull grey colour. She had seen that look before, in Daryl, when the adults told him about his brother.

"I'm Ashley and the dipshit that went up there is Alex," Sophia heard Ashley saying to her.

She was about to say something in return, when Alex came down the stairs with a bucket of water, a towel, a needle, a piece of thread, a lit candle and a pair of tweezers.

"I'm also the dipshit that's stitching you up, so be careful there, Ash!" Alex mumbled. He placed the bucket on the floor as he motioned Sophia to him. "I need you to hold this in the candle flame and don't remove it until I say so, ok?" he instructed Sophia and received a nod in return. 

Alex set to work cleaning around the wound first. Then taking the tweezers and pushing them into the wound as gently as possible he moved them around, looking for the bullet. As he grabbed it, he heard his sister let out a string of curses. He pulled out the tweezers and bullet as quickly as he could and put the towel back over the wound. 

"Pass me the needle, Sophia." 

She passed him the needle, and as he threaded the thread through, Sophia continued to hold the towel down tightly over the wound. Then Sophia watched in awe, as Alex stitched Ashley’s knee. Once it was done he helped Ashley up. 

"Come on, we’ve got to get out of here before some more of their friends arrive," he said pulling his sibling’s arm around his shoulder. He left the rifle behind, because there was no ammunition left.

The three made their way outside, where two Harley Davidsons sat. One was white and the other a midnight black and both had an ‘A’ painted in red on them. Sophia was becoming nervous. Were they going to take her away from her mom and her new family? She had to say something and quick as she watched Alex help Ashley on to her bike.

"Excuse me." Her timid voice reaching their ears and they turned to look at the little girl. They had momentarily forgotten all about her. "I need to find my family." All she received were looks of pity.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, they're probably up in heaven," Ashley said getting a glare from Alex.

"No, they’re on the highway," Sophia replied shaking her head.

"Then what are you doing here, little one?" Alex asked.

"There were too many...and I got scared so I ran...two followed me and I ended up here," she frantically replied. All she wanted to do was get back to her mom.

Alex looked over at Ashley; they were having their own silent conversation. He wanted to take the girl back; it wasn't fair that she was apart from their mom, just like they were when they were kids. All Ashley wanted to do was to find a cure or kill the zombie bastards, but knowing her brother and the fact that he was older, that wasn't going to happen. Ashley sighed as Alex helped Sophia onto his bike. He then handed Ashley the puppy that Sophia had picked up as they walked through the house and then he settled down behind Sophia. Ashley placed the pup into the bag on the side of her bike.

"Well, kids, looks like we're going on a road trip," Ashley said carefully as she manoeuvred herself to sit on her bike more comfortably.

"Hey! I'm older than you," Alex laughed.

"Then act like it."

"I would if you weren't a control freak."

"I am not a control freak!"

They both smiled at the sound of the child laughing at their bickering, before starting the Harley’s and taking off. 

"Well this is going to be one long night," Ashley muttered taking the lead.


	2. Sophia is Back.

The trip to the highway was fairly easy. They didn’t come across any of the infected, so they reached the abandoned road in just under an hour. Sophia was happy. These kind people were going to take her back to her mum and back to her new family. But she was also happy to get a ride on the motorbike. She had asked Daryl a few times if he would give her a ride, but her mum had always butted in and said no. She couldn’t understand why her mum wouldn’t let her; but she obeyed her mum and did what she was told.

“Ok, little one, do you know which way?” Sophia heard Ashley ask.

Sophia looked up and down the quiet road. It was starting to get dark and things weren’t looking the same as they did in the daylight. Also, she hadn’t really taken much noticed of the surrounding area. She was too busy listening to Rick and Lori talking about the Grand Canyon. She was just about to say that she wasn’t sure when she saw the back of some cars off in the distance to the right.

“That way, I think. We were going past cars on the road when the walkers went past. Then two chased me into the woods. Rick found me and hid me away. He ran off with the walkers following him. I waited, I really did, but I got scared that the walkers would come back and I, I...” Sophia had started to cry as she remembered what happened two days ago.

“Easy there, missy; here dry those tears, we’ll have you back in your mum’s arms soon.” Alex handed Sophia a hankie. “Sophia, what are ‘walkers’?” 

“Oh, the walkers, that’s what we call the dead. What do you call them?”

“We call them ‘the infected’,” laughed Ashley. “But I guess calling them walkers sounds ok. So, we go right?” Ashley asked just to make sure that was the way Sophia wanted to go.

“Yes, towards those cars up there,” Sophia pointed.

“Right, let’s get going. I don’t like travelling in the dark,” Alex said as he started his bike up again. 

Ashley followed suit and lead the way towards the cars in the distance. She knew this could be a trap. Sophia could have been some sort of bait for a group that wanted to kill them and take their supplies. Or they could simply just ride straight in to a group of infected, but then she could truly be a lost child and it would be fair not to try to return her to her mum.

It took another half hour to reach the first lot of cars. They carefully weaved their bikes in and out between the rusting metal bodies. The stench of rotting flesh, mixed with the smell of rain in the air was turning all of their stomachs. Suddenly, Sophia tensed as a walker stumbled across the light of the bike. 

Alex was too slow to react, as he saw that the walker was none other than Sergeant Fretz. He knew they should have put a bullet into his head, that’s what they do with all the infected. But Fretz was different. He was their Sergeant, he was their dad...he was Fretz. But, just as Fretz lunged at the bike, out of nowhere come a baseball bat striking Fretz in the head and sending him flying backwards. The next thing Alex and Sophia knew, Ashley was limping over to the walker and plunging her knife into its head. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, ALEX!” Ashley screamed at her brother.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I mean it was Fretz, for crying out loud.” Alex watched as his sister’s face softened and then twisted in pain as she went to take a step. 

Alex was off his bike and by her side before Sophia could blink. Sophia watched as Alex took his sister into his arms to support her. She started to feel guilty. It was her fault that Ashley was hurt; after all, she was the one who shot her. And it was now her fault that they ran into a walker. They were only here because of her; after all, they were trying to get her back to her mum. Climbing down off the bike, Sophia apologised for causing so much trouble and then bolted into the dark. The next thing Ashley and Alex heard was Sophia screaming.

“Sophia,” Alex called only to find a hand over his mouth.

“Do you want to bring all the infected after us?” Ashley whispered in his ear. “There is nothing we can do for her now, let’s go.” Alex just nodded and helped Ashley to her bike. Suddenly, they both heard footsteps behind them.

“Turn around slowly, with your hands in the air.” The male voice was low, but held enough strength in it to make them do as he said.

They did as they were told and when they had turned around they saw a man standing in front of them. He was most likely in his sixties, maybe even his seventies. He had gray hair which was covered by a hat, the type you wear fishing. He was wearing a Singlet, which was covered by a shirt that wasn’t buttoned up and, clinging to his greyish colour pants, was Sophia. Although she looked scared, she was smiling. 

“It’s ok, Dale. They were just bringing me back,” Sophia said looking up at the man.

Dale looked down at the little girl that was holding his side. He smiled at her and then turned his eyes back the man and woman before him.

“What are your names?”

“I’m Alex and this is my sister, Ashley; and you?”

“I’m Dale and thank you for bringing Sophia back to us. You want to meet the rest of the group? I’m sure they will want to thank you.” Looking down at Sophia and giving her a smile, Dale continued, “Especially Carol, Sophia’s mum.”

Alex looked at Ashley. It had been a long time since they had seen any living people and the ones they had come across had become more like wild animals then human beings. He watched his sister’s reaction to the offer and he could see she wanted to go, but like him she was wary of any intensions the group might have. 

As if Sophia could read their thoughts she said, “Rick, our leader, he’s a Deputy Sheriff.”

The siblings looked at her and smiled. “I take it you want us to meet your family, little one,” Ashley laughed.

“Yes,” Sophia replied with shining eyes reflecting in the lights of the bikes.

“Now, Sophia, only your mum, Amanda and Daryl are at the RV. The others are...” Dale trailed off as if he wasn’t sure whether to tell the child or not. “Anyway, you’re lucky you came now.” Dale stood and looking at the adults in front of him. “We were going to move the RV to the farm in the morning.”

“You weren’t going to keep looking for me?”

“Oh, no, Sophia, we were still going to look for you. It was just, there’s been a lot more hordes coming through lately, and we were just moving the RV to somewhere a bit safer. We were going to leave food and water with a note to tell you to stay in the car til we came back and we would have checked every morning and evening.”

“And Rick, Carl and the rest are at the farm, waiting for us?”

“Yes.” Just then Sophia yawned. “Now, by the look of that, we need to get you back to your mum, Sophia.”

“Thank you,” the little girl said with a tired smile.

“I suggest you push your bikes; the RV is just up the road.” 

“Ok,” Alex said and then he walked over to Sophia and put her in front of Ashley. “I will push you two on your bike, Ashley, and I will get my bike in the morning.” Seeing the way Dale was looking at them, he explained. “Ashley was shot in the leg.” 

“Ok, you need a hand?”

“No, I’ll be ok.”

Then a sleepy voice piped in. “And I’m the one who shot her.” 

They all looked at Sophia who had now fallen asleep.


	3. That Night and the Next Morning.

They walked quietly for about ten minutes, before a bright light was shone in their faces.

“It me, Dale, don’t shoot,” Dale called out to whoever it was behind the light. 

“You old fool, I could have shot you. Who’s that with you?” 

“Survivors. Is Carol still awake?”

“Yeah, of course she is, why?”

“Because they’ve brought Sophia back, that’s why.”

The light was dropped enough to shine only on the ground, which allowed them to advance. When they reached the RV, Dale gently woke Sophia up.

“Come on, Sophia.” She looked up at him and smiled. Helping her off the bike Dale walked her over to the door of the RV. As she passed the other man, he ruffled her hair. Dale knocked on the door. “Andrea, can you come out here please?” he called to someone inside.

“Sure Dale, what do you...” she paused when she saw Sophia standing there. Smiling Andrea got down and gave her a cuddle. “Your mum is lying down in the back.” She then stepped aside so Sophia could go to her mum.

“Where did you find her?”

“I didn’t, they did,” Dale said pointing towards the two newcomers.

“Thank you,” Andrea said as she walked over to them. That is when they heard Carol scream.

“SOPHIA!” Carol’s voice came floating out of the RV and into the dark night. Everyone outside laughed a little at the woman’s excitement.

Suddenly Daryl took his crossbow off his shoulder and aimed it at the newcomers.

“What do you think you are doing, Daryl?” Andrea asked in an angry voice.

“Shhh.” They all quieted immediately and listened. At first they heard nothing, then, a quiet moan that got louder and then multiplied into many moans.

“Quick, inside the RV,” Dale said pushing Andrea in the direction of the door. “Daryl, get the light.”

“Right and I’ll stay on the roof.”

They all rushed inside and closed the door. Carol and Sophia look at them strangely at first, but knew what was going on when Dale placed a finger to his lips and the light outside went off. They lay quietly, as they listened to the horde going past. The moans and groans they heard outside ran through each person in the RV as if someone was holding ice to their bare skin. And they all held their breaths when one of the walkers decided to try the door.

After about half an hour and at least five minutes after they last heard anything outside Daryl poked his head through the roof and told them it was clear. Standing up Dale turned on a light so they could see each other.

“That was a big horde, this time,” Andrea said as she moved to get some food out of the cabinet for Sophia.

“A horde, what’s a horde?” Alex asked confused.

“”It’s what we call a group of walkers. At first, we just saw one or two together, but of late, we’ve seen them in large groups of up to twenty. So, we call them a horde of walkers,” Dale informed the two newcomers.

“Mum?”

Carol smiled down at her daughter. God it felt good to hear Sophia’s voice again. She had lost so much over her lifetime and Sophia was the only thing she had left.

“Yes darling.”

“This is Alex and Ashley. They found me and brought me back here.”

Carol looked at the strangers with gratitude.

“Thank you so much for looking after my daughter and for bringing her back,” Carol said smiling at them, but once she saw how pale and sweaty Ashley was her face tuned to concern. “Are you ok?”

At this statement everyone was now looking at her and Ashley felt guilty, but at the same time dizzy.

“I’m fine,” She said as she put out a hand to support herself, but that was the same point when her legs decided to give away as well. By the time she had hit the floor, Dale and Alex were by her side.

“Ashley, Ashley, wake up, please,” Alex called to his sister, but he got no response.

“She’s out cold,” Dale said as he helped Alex put Ashley onto the bed and then had a look at the wound on her leg. It was bad, a lot worse than Alex thought it was.

“We need to get her to the farm.”

“Why, what’s there?”

“There’s a doctor there, he’s working on one of our own at the moment. He should be able to help her as well.”

“Thank you,” Alex said relieved.

“We can’t go til morning though, too dangerous in the dark,” Daryl said still looking through the roof. Alex was just about to say something to him, when Daryl suddenly disappeared from sight, only to reappear a few seconds later. “Better turn off that light, more walkers coming.” And again he disappeared.

Three more times that night, they had to hide from the hordes of walkers going through the area. So everyone gave a sigh of relief when dawn broke. As they prepared to head towards the farm, they heard the engine from a car heading their way. 

“It’s only Glen and he’s in a truck,” Dale called out from his look out on top of the RV.

“Who the hell would let the china man drive a truck?” Daryl shouted back.

“Daryl, you play nice with Glen,” Carol chided the grown man.

“I’ll play with the little...” Daryl broke off his words when he saw Ashley staring at him. Then grumbling to himself walked off towards the approaching truck.

Ashley watched this rough looking man walk away. He hadn’t spoken much and when she asked Carol and Andrea about him, they just said that Daryl kept to himself a lot. In fact they didn’t know much about him at all, only that he has a brother call Merle, that is if he is still alive and that he can hunt. In fact, if it wasn’t for Daryl they would have all starved to death by now. Ashley got the feeling that, even though Daryl distanced himself from the group, they held him as a very important part of their group. She also could see the way he greeted the newcomer, regardless of the comment he had made about him, they were friends.

“Where you steal the truck from, china man?”

“I’m Korean, Daryl, not...oh never mind. It belongs to Hershel, I’m going to load up stuff from here to take back, want to help?”

“Will it take a motor bike?”

“Should, what’s happened to yours?”

“Not mine. Some survivors found Sophia and they brought her back, but one of them has been shot and they...” suddenly they heard a scream.

Racing back to the RV, Daryl had his crossbow at the ready and Glen had a shotgun. As they approached they saw that Andrea, Carol and Sophia were cornered by some walkers. Alex was trying to get the women by stabbing the walkers from behind, but Daryl couldn’t see Ashley anywhere. 

Just as a walker turned on Alex, a bolt struck it right between the eyes. Seeing help coming Alex turned his attention back to the job at hand of getting the walkers away from the women. 

Just as the last walker fell, Dale appeared from behind the RV slowly followed by Ashley. She was as white as snow and beads of sweat were forming on her face, she was also covered in blood. They did a quick check of everyone and once they were happy that no one had been bitten, they sat down in the RV to talk.

“Why did you see if anyone was bitten?” Ashley asked concern in her voice.

“We’ve learnt that the infection is passed through bites from the dead. If you’re bitten, then you get sick. You get sick, you die. You die; you come back as a walker,” Dale said not once looking up from Ashley’s leg, as he changed the dressing.

“That’s why, even if they eat you, you come back. Who screamed anyway?”

“I did.” Ashley said hanging her head.

Glen, who was sitting on the roof listening in to what was being said, poked his head in. “Why? Don’t you know that loud noises attracted the walkers?”

“Yes, I do!” Ashley snapped. “But when we found Sophia, we also picked up a small dog. I had forgotten I had it in my side bag. The infected had ripped it apart,” Ashley said as she wiped away a tear.

“Sorry to hear that,” Daryl said and handed her a hanky. “But, it was just a dog. It could have barked and attracted walkers to you when you were travelling. It’s better off dead.” And with that he turned to leave the RV. Turning back, he spoke to Andrea. “The owner of the farm and Rick wants us to go through the cars and take back what we can find. We’ll put their bikes on the back first and then Glen and I will load up the truck. You guys better get going to the farm, meet you there.”

Andrea nodded and told him to be careful and with that Daryl was out the door. They could hear Glen getting down off the roof and then there was silence.

“I hope they will be careful with our bikes,” Ashley said.

“Don’t worry about that. Daryl will most likely treat them like they’re his own,” Carol answered laughing. “Well, let’s get going then, Dale.”

“Right. Now let’s see, where were we going? Arr...Yes, that’s right.” And with that Dale started the RV, turned it around and headed off towards the side road that led to the farm.

Daryl watched the RV grow smaller as it moved away from them. There was something about that newcomer Ashley. He wasn’t sure what it was yet. But in his gut, he had a feeling that she was hiding something. Shaking his head Daryl turned back to give Glen a hand in loading the bikes.


	4. At the Farm

As the RV rolled through the gates of the farm, the occupants could see Rick sitting on the porch. As soon as he saw it was the RV, Rick stood up and went to great them. Hershel, the owner of the farm, had already put down the rules they were to abide by while they were there. Waving to the RV, Rick pointed to where Hershel had told him they could set up camp.

“I wonder if they’ve found Sophia yet.” T-Dog asked as the RV turned to go where Rick had pointed.

“Let’s go and see.” Both men raced over to see if their lost member had been found.

They watched as Dale, then Andrea and then lastly, Carol climbed out of the RV, but there was no Sophia. Both Rick’s and T-Dogs spirits dropped for a moment, until Sophia’s screams came echoing out of the vehicle. Carol was straight back in the RV before they could blink. And before they could move, a complete stranger had come running out, covering her ears and collapsing under a nearby tree in the foetal position. She was followed by an unknown male, who went straight to the woman and then just stood there looking at her.

Rick looked at the two strangers for a few seconds before moving to the RV’s door to make sure Sophia was ok. Climbing in, he saw Carol sitting on the bed, rocking a crying Sophia in her arms.

“Is Sophia, ok, Carol?” Rick asked concerned the strangers might have hurt her.

“Yeah, she just had a nightmare. She’s had them, as long as I can remember,” Carol said giving Rick a shy smile.

Rick knew that smile; he had seen it on the faces of many abused wives as they tried to tell him they had just walked into another door. But he didn’t want to pressure Carol and since her husband was dead, he just let it slide. Smiling back, Rick looked at the young girl who was peeking out from her mother’s chest.

“Hello, Sophia,” Rick said in a quiet voice.

“Hello, Rick. Are you angry with me?” 

“Why would I be angry with you, Sophia?” Rick asked confused.

“Because, because I didn’t stay where you told me to.”

“Oh, Sophia, of course I’m not angry with you, darling. I understand that you were scared and that you thought you were doing the right thing. I really do. I’m just glad that you’re home with us, safe and sound.” As Rick was saying this, he reached out and brushed Sophia’s hair.

“Thank you. Mum, can I go and play with Carl.” Carol just looked at her daughter, she still didn’t know about Carl being shot. But just as she went to tell her daughter, Rick spoke up.

“I’m sorry Sophia, but you can’t play with Carl. You see while we were out looking for you Carl got hurt and well...he just can’t play at the moment.”

“Carl got hurt because of me?” Sophia said fear showing in her eyes.

“Oh, no, Sophia, of course it wasn’t you fault.” Carol pulled her daughter closer stroking her hair.

“Your mum’s right. If anyone is at fault for Carl getting hurt, it was me. Look I’ve got to go and check up on Carl. Why don’t you get some sleep?” Rick said smiling at the child.

“Ok, you will let me know how Carl is.”

“I will.” And with that Rick gave Carol a smile and left the RV.

As Rick walked out of the RV, he saw the strangers sitting by the tree. A worried Andrea stood over them. Andrea looked at Rick and could see the confusion with-in.

“They’re the ones who brought Sophia back to us.”

Rick just nodded at her, to indicate that he understood. He moved towards them, keeping is worried eyes on them all the time. Just as he reached them the male stood up to meet him. Each man gave the other the once over and when they were sure the other posed no threat, they relaxed a little. Rick’s eyes then wandered down to the female.

“Is she ok?” he said nodding his head at her.

“She is my sister and her name is Ashley and yes, Ashley is fine. Both she and Sophia were sleeping when Sophia had started to scream. All I can guess is that it just startled Ashley; after all, look at what we have to live with now days.”

“I guess so, I’m Rick and thank you for bringing Sophia back.”

“Alex and the pleasure, was all ours.” Alex saw Sophia and Carol exiting the RV and thought he would try and brighten Sophia’s mood. “Anyway, if we didn’t, Sophia might have shot us both,” he said this smiling at her, and he could see Sophia had taken it as the joke he had intended it to be when the little girl smiled back at him. When he looked back at Rick he could see the man had his eyebrows raised in confusion, he felt he needed to explain. “You see, we meet Sophia after she had shot Ashley in the leg,” he said gesturing towards his sister.

“Do you need to see Hershel about your leg?” Rick said as he crouched down to have a closer look.

“It might help, we, as in Alex, thinks he got all of the bullet out, but I think it’s starting to get infected and I don’t want to become one of them.”

“I thought you said she was shot?” Rick asked looking at Alex.

“She was, why?”

“Because you only became a walker if you’ve been bitten and your sister is worried about becoming one from a gunshot wound.” Rick said as calm and as steady as he could. He remembered what Java said to him. That they were all infected. That they all could change into a walker at any time. So did this seemly young and decent woman know this as well? And if she did, how did she find out?

“I, I,” Ashley stuttered as she tried to explain. Taking a deep breath she tried again. “I’m wounded and I can’t get away very quickly. If one of the infected gets to me, then I can’t...” Ashley’s voice broke as she tried to calm her nerves. She looked up at Rick and could see him looking at her strangely, as if he was looking for something; but she wasn’t sure what.

“We better get you up to Hershel,” was all Rick said and he stood up, putting his hand out to help her stand as well.

“Thank you,” Ashley whispered.

“We’ll see. Now, Dale, we are to set up camp here and nowhere else. No one is to go to the house unless they’re asked to. I want someone to still keep watch, but this is Hershel’s place and he wants his group to deal with the walkers, and only his group. Understand?”

“Yes, Rick, and how is Carl?”

“We’re still waiting for Shane to get back. We need some equipment so Hershel can operate. I’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I know.” And with that Rick, along with Alex, walked Ashley up to the house.


	5. Shane Gets Back.

As they reached the house, Rick called out for Hershel. An elderly man, who you could see had lived a long and hard life, came running out of the door.

“Are they back?” he said looking around for the truck that Otis and Shane had taken.

“No.” The elderly man could hear the disappointment in Rick’s voice. “But I have another patient for you.”

“Another one, can’t your group look after themselves.” 

“She’s not part of my group, but she and her brother brought back our missing one.”

“She has a name,” Ashley said through clenched teeth. She then glared at her brother, as he let out a laugh. “Alex!”

“Sorry, Ashley, but you are being so silly at the moment.” 

Hershel let out a sigh. He wondered what he had gotten himself into by letting these people to come here. Then his eyes fall onto Rick and he remembered that it was one of his, that accidently shot Rick’s son Carl. Looking out past the three people in front of him, Hershel prayed that Otis got back soon. Hearing Ashley let out a small groan, he refocused onto the job at hand.

“Bring her in and I will have a look,” Hershel said as he turned around and headed back into the house.

“Thank you,” Alex said as he helped his sister up the stairs. Before entering, he turned to Rick. “You’re not coming in?”

“I’ve got to give blood soon, so Hershel can operate on my son Carl. I need the fresh air so I can build up my strength.” 

“Ok, and thank you,” Alex said before he and his sister disappeared through the door.

Rick watched the two newcomers disappear through the door. After they were out of sight, he turned to go, but someone calling his name made Rick stop, and turn back around. Standing on the top step was his wife, Lori. She looked tired, but so was everyone. 

“Lori, is everything ok with Carl?” Rick asked with concern in his voice as he walked towards her.

“Carl’s as fine as he can be, considering he’s been shot. I just wanted to know who they were,” Lori said nodding her head towards the house, to indicate Alex and Ashley. “And see if Shane was back yet.”

“No, Shane’s not back yet and as for those two, well, they found Sophia and brought her back to us. Their names are Ashley and Alex and they are brother and sister. Is there anything else you want to know?”

“No! Just let me know when Shane gets back,” Lori snapped. She walked back into the house without even waiting for Rick’s answer.

Rick watched his wife walk away without saying a word to her. Lori was just upset because Carl had been shot, that’s all. After a minute, Rick headed back to the RV to see if Sophia and the others could give him some information on Alex and Ashley. But once again, he came to a stop, as a vehicle race up the road. It was the pick-up that Shane and Otis had taken.

The truck came to a full stop in front of Rick and Shane jumped out of the driver side door. Grabbing Rick’s shoulders, Shane tried to calm his nerves. 

“Rick, I’ve got it all; everything Hershel wanted.”

Rick smiled at Shane as what he had just heard sank in, but then he realised that Otis was missing.

“Where’s Otis?” Rick asked as he frowned in confusion.

“Didn’t you hear what I said, Rick? I’ve got what we need to save Carl.”

The confusion left Rick’s face, only to be replaced by anger at how Shane was trying to avoid his question.

“I heard you, but I don’t think you heard me. I asked you where is Otis?”

“He didn’t make it.”

“Funny that, Rick. How your man made it back, but Otis, who knows this place like the back of his hands, didn’t.” Rick turned around to find Hershel standing behind him.

“I know how this looks, Hershel, but can we please treat Carl first and then we will find out what happened to Otis,” Rick asked desperate to save his son.

The old man looked at Shane. He was angry at the man, but Rick was right, they needed to treat Carl and they needed to do it now.

“Yes, Rick. We will treat Carl first, but I don’t want him in the house.” Hershel said and then he headed back to the house.

“Rick...”

“Don’t, Shane. Just go and get T-Dog to help me take the equipment inside,” Rick said as he watched Hershel walk away. He then turned and looked straight at Shane. “You better have a good reason why Otis didn’t make it back, Shane.” And with that Rick picked up several boxes to take into the house.

Shane watched his friend walk away. He had a feeling that Rick somehow knew what had happened at the school, but didn’t how he knew. Shaking off the feeling, he headed over to the RV. Once there, he located t-Dog and sent him to help Rick. Shane was feeling tired and was walking over to his tent, when he passed Sophia.

“Hi, Shane,” Sophia said smiling at him.

“Hi, Sophia,” Shane said not really taking noticed.

Just as Shane’s head touched his pillow, his mind caught up with him and what he had just seen. Jumping up and racing outside, he looked around. At first he didn’t see Sophia, but just as he decided that it must have been in his mind, Sophia came around the corner of the RV.

“SOPHIA,” Shane called out as if he was expecting the little girl to disappear.

Because Sophia wasn’t expecting to hear her name being call, she jumped, dropping the water she was carrying. As she looked up him, Shane could see tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t...”

“Sophia, it’s ok. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Shane said trying to calm the child, as he could see the fear in her eyes. Just then, Carol came running around the corner.

“What happened?”

“Sorry, Carol, it was my fault, I scared her when I realised she was back with us. Wait, that sounds bad, what I mean is, I was surprised to see her, so I shouted her name and that startled her.”

“It’s ok, darling. I’m sure Shane didn’t mean it. I take it then you got the stuff Rick needed?”

“Yes I did.” Shane answered her, but she could hear there was a, but, in there somewhere.

“What else?”

“Otis, the man that took me, he didn’t make it out alive.” Shane looked at the ground.

Carol studied Shane’s demeanour and she she could see that he didn’t want to talk about it and she wasn’t in the mood to push it anyway.

“Ok, I’ll let you tell Rick what happened. You better get some sleep though, Shane. You look like death warmed up.”

“Thanks.” Shane nodded, smiling at the woman. 

When it appeared there wasn’t going to be any more of their conversation, Carol and Sophia went back to what they had been doing and Shane closed up the truck. He knew he needed to come up with a good reason why Otis didn’t come back with him. And he couldn’t tell them the truth.


	6. Alex and Ashley Meet Shane.

After Shane had gotten some restless sleep, he emerged from his tent and went to find someone to tell him where they had set up for the toilet. As he rounded the corner of the RV, he saw a stranger talking to Sophia near the trees close to where they were parked. Shane leaned up against the RV and watched as the stranger knelt down to be at more of an eye level with the young girl. The man gave Sophia something from his pocket and she took it after looking around to see if anyone was watching.

Shane was getting angry. Angry at this stranger who was talking to Sophia; angry at Carol for not watching her daughter and angry at the world that had changed, yet evidently hadn’t changed enough. As the man placed his hand on Sophia’s arm; Shane’s anger over flowed. Charging at them, Shane tackled the man to the ground and started to hit him.

Blow after blow, Shane pounded into the man’s face. Even Sophia’s begging him to stop, didn’t affect him. But when two sets of strong arms grabbed him and started to drag him away, Shane started to calm down.

“Shane...what the hell...?” Shane was still too busy glaring at the stranger to really take notice of what was being said to him. 

He couldn’t understand why Carol and Andrea were helping the stranger up. Couldn’t they see what he was doing? How many kids had he and Rick gone out looking for that had been taken by men like him? 

Rick kept on talking to Shane and as soon as he realised that Shane wasn’t listening to him, he crouched down so he was blocking Shane’s sight of Alex. Once he was sure that Shane was focused on him, Rick started to talk again.

“Shane, what the hell were you doing?” Even though he spoke calmly, Shane could see the anger in Rick’s eyes.

“What the hell was I doing? What the hell were you all doing? He was going to take Sophia and no one was watching her. Just because the world has ended, doesn’t mean that only the good people are still alive. Sicko’s like him are still out there, Rick, and no one was watching her,” Shane yelled.

“Shane, Alex and his sister were the ones who found Sophia and brought her back to us. And trust me, I don’t think Carol is going to let her daughter out of her sight for a long time,’ Rick answered with a little giggle. “Come on.” Rick stood up, holding out his hand. “Come and meet Alex.”

Shane looked at the extended hand, nodded and grabbed on. As Rick helped him to his feet, Shane remembered about Carl.

“Carl, how is he?”

“He’s resting, Shane. Hershel said that we just need to wait and see. Lori is with him.”

“That’s good. Rick, about Otis...”  
“Later, Shane, you and I will sit down with Hershel and you can tell him what happened at the school, but for now, meet Alex...,” Rick said turning around, “...and his sister Ashley,” Rick added when he found that Ashley had joined them.

Shane looked at the two people standing in front of him. With them standing next to each other, you could see they were related. They both had the same skin colouring and similar size and build and because they had the same short hair cut, Shane worked out that they were both in the armed forces in some way. He could also see that the girl, Ashley, had a bandage on her knee and thanks to the punches he had gotten in, the boy, Alex, had a few bruises and some blood running from his lip.

Alex was staring at him. Ashley was checking her brother over and Shane could see a very concerned look on her face.

“I...”

“How could you?’ Ashley said cutting Shane off. “Don’t you know the dangers of fighting? You could have turned him into an infected person.” Ashley yelled, her eyes glowing with anger and unshed tears.

“I, I...”

“It’s not his fault.” Rick intervened. “Shane didn’t know who you were and he was just protecting Sophia.”

“Ashley...,” Alex said calmly as he placed his hand onto her shoulder. “It’s ok. I understand why he did it.” 

Ashley turned around to look at Alex. He could see how scared she was of losing him; she was as scared as he was of losing her. He watched as Ashley nodded her head at him and then she turned back to Shane.

“Sorry. But you just don’t understand. You don’t understand the dangers,” Ashley said her voice getting quieter as she spoke. Alex pulled Ashley into a gentle hug, just as the tears started to flow.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said as he tried to calm his sister down. “We’ve just been through so much in the last few weeks. And we just lost our sergeant, who was like a father to us, just before we found Sophia. I guess it was just getting too much for her. After she has a sleep, we’ll pack up and leave.” Alex then turned Ashley and himself around to leave. But before they took two steps, a voice rang out.

“Nooo, Alex, Ashley, don’t go.” It was Sophia. “Please, Rick. Please don’t make them go away. They saved me and they’re like my angels or something. Please.”

“Easy there, Sophia, no one has asked them to leave, yet.” He addressed his next comments to the brother and sister standing there. “For now you are welcome to stay with us. I’m not sure how long we are going to be allowed to stay on the farm, but as long as you don’t cause trouble for us or Hershel, I see no reason for you two to leave.” Rick said this for a few reasons. One, to calm Sophia down and two, because they did owe them for bringing Sophia back and three, he wanted to know what Ashley knew. “So, will you stay?” 

Ashley looked at her brother. She could see that he was thinking about the pros and cons of being around other people and as the look on his face changed, she knew that the pros had outweighed the cons.

“Well, what do you think, Ashley?”

“It would be nice to be around the living again and we might be able to get some sleep. I’m for it if you are.”

“Then we stay, for a while.”

“We stay.”

Turning about to face the group, Alex nodded his head. “Thank you, we would like to stay.”

“Then we better get you a tent or two.”

“We have our own, but thank you anyway.”

And with that the group headed back over to the fire to get something to eat.


	7. Everyone has Secrets

The days went by and everyone settled in. Ashley and Alex came part of the group. Carol started to let Sophia out of her sight a little and Carl, T-Dog and Ashley’s wounds began to heal. In all, everything was going good and it didn’t look like Hershel was going to ask them to move on anytime soon. Everyone seemed more relaxed than they had been for a long time. Unfortunately it was all a lie.

Rick could feel the tension building from inside. He knew, or rather felt, that everyone was keeping secrets and he meant everyone. He, himself, was hiding a big secret and he was wondering if Ashley and Alex were hiding the same secret or at least knew about it, and maybe even more than himself. He was living with people he didn’t even know and the ones he did, he didn’t think he knew them anymore. Since joining the group and becoming their leader, today was the first time he has had a real chance to get to know them.

All but three members of the group sat around the fire that night. Carl and Lori were still up at the house with Hershel and his group and Glen was on top of the RV on lookout duty. Even though it felt safe, Rick still wanted a person on watch, just in case. He slowly looked at each person sitting there trying to work out what their secret was and why they were keeping them. After all, they needed to be able to trust each other and secrets will, in the end, pull them apart or worse, get someone killed.

He first looked at Dale. Here was a man who kept reminding them that they all need to keep their humanity. That they needed to try and keep the rules and values of the past, otherwise they were all going to turn into animals. So, what could a man his age be hiding? He had gotten to talk to Dale while he was on watch. Rick had taken him some food and water and then he started to talk to the man. 

He started out by asking, how did he and the other members of the group meet? It had turned out that they had come to him. He was already camping at the quarry and the different groups just seemed to end up there. Dale then told him about his wife and how she had died. In all, Dale seemed to be a very open person, maybe his secret has to do with the way his wife had die and how he had coped with it.

The next two Rick looked at were Carol and Sophia. He already knew their biggest secret, everyone knew it. But with the death of her husband, they were both free from that secret. What else could the mother and child be hiding? Could it be anything that could threaten the group? Rick doubted it. Sophia was too young and Carol had lived under her husband’s fists for too long to be anything else but a follower.

Where Shane was concerned, it was a very different story. Rick had known him since they were both seven. They had grown up and done everything together. Whatever Rick did, Shane did. There were only a few occasions where Shane hadn’t followed suit. Like when Rick had married Lori, but Shane was there, right by his side, which is why it is so hard that he feels like he can’t trust him anymore. 

He knows that Shane had lied to him and Hershel about what had really happened to Otis, but he had no proof, only the gut feeling he always got when Shane lied to him. But it wasn’t just the lying that made Rick question his best friend’s trust; it was his behaviour as well.

Ever since Rick had joined the group, Shane had been acting strangely around him and since getting back from the school and the death of Otis it had gotten worst. Something was eating at him. Rick knew it. Shane knew it. But what it was, Rick wasn’t too sure. Was it guilt because he had left Rick behind? Maybe a little, after all, they had been friends for a long time, but then again he understood why Shane had left him. No there was something else and Rick had a feeling it had to do with Lori. 

Andrea was next in Rick’s thoughts. Now here was a strange person. He knows that she knows how to shoot a gun, but she seems scared to do so. Also, Andrea had become quite withdrawn since the death of her sister. He is starting to wonder if she is stable enough and if she isn’t, will she become a threat to the group if they’re attacked again.

Last and not least of the original group is Daryl and all his faults and the fact that he keeps to himself all the time. Rick believes Daryl doesn’t have any secrets, at least not any of his own. Daryl is a person who will only speak if needed, but when he does, he goes straight to the point. This is why Rick felt he can confide in the man. He wouldn’t call him a friend, after all Daryl still blames him for what had happened to his brother, but Rick also knows whatever he told Daryl won’t be repeated to anyone else. 

And now his eyes fall onto the newcomers, Ashley and her brother Alex. The latter didn’t seem to have any secrets; in fact he was very open except when it came to his sister. When Rick had asked him a few questions about them, he was fine on the ones about himself. But as soon as he asked anything about Ashley, Alex seemed to clam up, as if he was afraid that by saying anything about his sister would make her disappear.

Whereas, Ashley, just kept to herself and her brother. The only other person she really talks to, or rather tries to talk to other than her brother, is Daryl and whatever it is they talk about he’s not saying. Rick wants to talk to her, to get Ashley by herself and ask a few questions he wants, no needs, the answers to, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen any time soon.

A movement in the group brought Rick out of his thoughts about Ashley. It was Andrea. She was getting a plate of food to take up to Glen. Now there was a person full of secrets. Glen, so Rick had learnt, was the person you go to if you want something or just wanted to get something off your chest. Rick owed Glen his life, but because it looked like he was always ready to burst with all the secrets told to him, Rick was always to afraid to say too much to him, just in case he does burst and all the secrets he knows, suddenly become known to everyone.

Smiling to himself, he figures that he will end up knowing all their secrets and to be honest, as long as the secrets don’t endanger the group, they don’t really matter. After all, Rick himself might be carrying the biggest and deadliest secret of them all.

He doesn’t know why, but his thoughts now wander to his wife and son. Were they, too, hiding secrets from him? Carl, most likely not, but as for his mother...Rick isn’t so sure. Just like Shane, he could tell when she is lying to him, and he is sure that she has lied to him at least four times since he found them. Rick also gets the feeling that both Lori and Shane are hiding a secret from him. He just prays that it’s not what he thinks it is.

His last thoughts of the night are towards Hershel and his group. He does understand Hershel’s reluctance to deal with them, to accept them being on his land. After all, now days, you trust the living just as much as you trust the dead. You could even say that you can trust the dead more than the living. All the dead want from you, is to eat you. Whereas with the living, you have to watch them all the time, as you don’t know what they are going to do. In all, Hershel is only allowing them to be here because Otis had shot Carl. So what will happen when Carl is strong enough to leave? Will Hershel ask them to go? If so, will they be able to find another place like this one? 

Rick decided to sleep on that last question. As he excused himself so he could go to bed, he gave Ashley one more glance. He really needs to talk to that girl, alone.


	8. Goodbye, Alex.

Over the next few weeks, Ashley and Alex found themselves a place in the group, which had helped Rick out a lot. He had spent a lot of time talking to Hershel, trying to get him to let them stay longer. Rick still hadn’t been able to get Ashley alone, partly because he was too busy and also for the fact that she was either with her brother or out hunting with Daryl. But that was about to change.

Alex, Ashley and Daryl had headed out on a hunt long before the rest had gotten out of bed for the day. Glen was on look out and, as usual, Rick was at the house talking to Hershel. Sophia and Carl were running around, while Carol and Lori cooked breakfast. Dale and Andrea had headed out to do some fishing. Shane, well, no one knew where Shane had disappeared too. In all, the day and the weeks in general, had been good ones.

Carol moved the pan from the fire so as not to burn the food. “Right, breakfast is ready,” she said to Lori.

“Well, now, all we need is for everyone to get back here before it goes cold,” laughed Lori.

“We could go and get Dale and Andrea,” Sophia offered.

Lori could see the look in Carol’s eyes at the thought of Sophia being out of her sight for so long, after what had happened just a month ago. Carol was just about to say no when Lori stepped in.

“Sure, but you two stay together and go straight there and come back with Dale and Andrea.”

“Yes, mum.” Carl turned to leave, but he stopped when he realised that Sophia hadn’t moved. Looking back, Carl could see that Sophia was waiting for her mum to say she could go. 

“Can I, mum?”

“She will be with Carl and they’re just going down to the river where Dale and Andrea are.”

Carol look at Sophia and then to Lori, as she focused back on Sophia, Carol nodded her head.

“As Lori said, stay together and come back with Dale and Andrea and if you see the others, let them know too.”

“Thank you, mum,” Sophia said giving her a hug, before she and Carl took off towards the river.

“You did the right thing, Carol, letting Sophia go.”

“I know, I just...it’s just that the last time...”

“I know, but she will be safe.” And the two women stood there and watched as their kids disappeared into the trees.

As Carl and Sophia approached the river, they could hear Dale and Andrea talking. Slowly and as quietly as they could, they crept up, so they could just see them.

Dale and Andrea had crossed the river and were fishing just a little way up from where Sophia and Carl were sitting and watching them. Sophia went to go out, but Carl stopped her.

“Let’s listen for a bit,” he whispered pointing to the grown-ups.

”It’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations.” 

“But they could be talking about your friends,” Carl said trying to pique Sophia’s interest in listening to the others without them knowing.

“But...” Carl knew he had gotten to her when she had hesitated. “Ok, but only for a second, deal?”

“Deal!” and with that Carl shook her hand. They then both turned their attention back to Dale and Andrea.

“Well, breakfast must be ready, by now.”

“That’s all you think about, Dale, is food.”

“Nope, I think about you and the rest of the group. I think about my late wife and...”

“Ok, you think about things other than food.” Andrea said laughing. “So, what do you think about Ashley and Alex?”

“I, I’m not sure, really.”

“What do you mean, Dale?”

“I don’t know. Usually, I can tell what a person is like just by looking at them or talking to them. But these two, I just can’t figure them out.”

“In what way? They seem ok to me.”

“I know they do, but there is just something about Ashley that doesn’t sit right with me. It’s like she has a secret and she isn’t keeping it just from us. I don’t think her brother knows what it is either.”

“Ok, well, you may be right. Now, I’m really ready for breakfast. Let’s pack up and head back home.”

Just as they started to pack up they heard Sophia and Carl scream. Looking up, there were the kids with a walker right on top of them. Before Dale or Andrea could move, someone tackled the walker and they went rolling down the bank, into the cold water. As the walker and the person sank into the depths of the river, another person dove into the water. When Dale looked back up, he saw Ashley standing there with the children. So that meant that it was Daryl and Alex in the river. Dale watched as Ashley looked for any sign for her brother or Daryl to surface.

By now Dale and Andrea had joined Ashley and the kids on their side of the river. When they heard Daryl’s voice calling out for help, they all took off racing as fast as they could to try and locate the owner of the voice. As they rounded a bend in the river, they found Daryl standing over Alex. There was fear in his eyes, but as soon as he saw Ashley, they softened and he started to shake his head.

“I’m sorry, but he’s not breathing.”

“It’s ok, Daryl.” Dale bent down and checked for a pulse. Not finding one, he turned to Andrea. “Give me a hand to do CPR, Andrea.”

“Sure,” Andrea said as she moved to get closer, but she was stopped by Ashley grabbing her arm.

“Don’t!”

“But we could still bring him back,” Dale pleaded confused as to why she wouldn’t want them to try and save him.

“I, said, NO! Just leave him,” Ashley said anger and tears rising in her voice.

“Well, we can’t just leave him here. Our group believes in burying the ones we love and burning the rest,” Daryl said as he stared at her. He too was confused by her behaviour.

“If you insist on burying him, then I get to do this.” And with that she approached her brother’s body and put her knife into his skull.

“No, Ashley, Nooo!” Sophia screamed as she watched this happen.

“Sorry, Sophia, but it had to be done.” And without another word Ashley just walked away.

About two hours later, everyone, including Hershel’s people, was standing over a freshly dug grave. After saying a few words, Ashley walked away and into the nearby trees.

“I’ll go after her. She shouldn’t be on her own,” Daryl said and made a move to follow her.

“No! I will go.” Rick placed a hand on Daryl’s arm. “You finish up here.”

Daryl could see the determination in Rick’s eyes. He nodded his understanding. Rick smiled at him and wondered when the young hunter fell for the soldier. Giving Daryl a pat on the arm, Rick headed off to find Ashley and finally have that talk with her.


	9. Rick Discovers Ashley’s Secrets

Rick finds Ashley sitting on a log, not too far from the spot where she had put the knife into her brother’s skull. Her action had confused everyone, but if Rick’s theory is correct, he knows why she did it. Rick just stood there watching her, tears falling from her eyes, as she mourned the loss of her brother. He gave her the time she needed; time to be on her own, but safe, because he was watching out for her.

After about ten minutes, Rick approached Ashley. He was prepared for her to go into an attack/defence mode, but instead she just sat there staring at the water. Rick wasn’t sure if she knew he was there until Ashley spoke to him.

“I take it you will want me to leave?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I just stabbed my dead brother in the head. He wasn’t bitten, he drowned. That’s why.”

“That’s true, he did drown, but I think you know something the rest of us don’t know. Or at least the rest don’t know. I think you and I both know that we are all infected with whatever this thing is.”

Ashley looked at him in surprise. Yes, it was true. Everyone was infected and only a few people were supposed to have known that. So how could a simple deputy sheriff know the truth? Plus, did he know that when you die, you came back as a walker? You didn’t have to be bitten. Ashley’s surprise was now changing to wonder. Wonder that this man knew so much; yet, he hardly ever spoke and as long as she has known him, has never raised his voice. She wonders how a man could hold in such information and yet, it doesn’t seem to get to him. Recovering, Ashley tried to cover her tracks.

“I, I don’t know what you mean!” she said looking away from Rick, back towards the water.

“You know that we are all infected. That your brother,” Rick saw Ashley tense up when he said the word brother, so he softened his voice even more. “I mean, that Alex would have become a walker if you didn’t put that knife into his brain.” When Ashley didn’t say anything Rick continued. “I understand why you did it. If Carl, if Carl hadn’t made it, I would have done the same to him. Just the thought that Carl could become one of them, it...it kills me inside.” 

Ashley looked over to Rick. From this angle, he looked tired and older than he really was. He had always looked tired, but now, in this light and angle, it was more than just being tired. She could see the weight he was carrying; a weight he should have never been carrying.

“How did you find out? No one was supposed to have known about it,” Ashley whispered with a sound of fear mixed in her voice, as if she was breaking the biggest secret in the world.

“A scientist at the CDC had held us against our will as the computer counted down to its destruction. I talked him out of killing us and as we raced to leave he whispered to me that we were all infected. I really didn’t know what he meant by it, but when you...you did what you did, I realise the truth. And the truth is that we can’t escape it, that it is now part of us; part of our lives, part of ours death too, whether we want it or not.”

“Do the others know?”

“Only Daryl knows. I wasn’t sure if it was true or not, so I couldn’t justify telling everyone. But Daryl is...different, he, he’s like my sounding board and I know he won’t tell anyone what I’ve said to him. How did you find out?”

Ashley looked up at Rick, fear reflected in her eyes. Here was a man she hardly knew, a man who, from what she had seen, tried to give everyone the benefit of a doubt. But the truth was that she was guilty. She was guilty of helping to create this thing, this disease and she was guilty of creating the world they now live in. How could Rick justify letting her stay with the group, when he knows that it was her fault, that their lives were now a living hell. Ashley looked away from Rick, she knew he would ask her to leave and maybe, just maybe, it was no less then what she deserved.

“I was there when they made the infection.” There, it was said. Now, it was Ashley’s judgement day.

“So it is man made.” Rick said this more to himself that to Ashley.

“Yes. I was part of the research team working with germ warfare in order to defeat the enemy. Somehow, the infection got out; we did our best to contain it. I watched some of my best friends die in front of me. I, with others, was shipped out to other bases all over the world, because we hadn’t shown any effects. We were allowed to go home and see our families. But it wasn’t until the infection had started to show up in the rest of the world, did I realise that I was infected and they had sent us out knowing full well, what could happen.”

Ashley felt a hand rest onto her shoulder. It wasn’t a harsh one like she was expecting. It was comforting, as if the owner didn’t blame her, but instead, felt sorry for her. Looking over to Rick, she was surprised to see it wasn’t him touching her. Looking behind, she found Daryl standing there. His hand softly resting on her shoulder, as if he understood her pain and he wanted to take it away. She brought her attention back to Rick as he started to speak.

“Your secret is safe with us, Ashley.”

“You don’t want me to leave?” Ashley asked with both hope and confusion in her voice.

“Why would we ask you to leave? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I...”

“It’s in the past. There is a lot of things that I, that we all, have done and now we have to put it behind us in order to survive.” Daryl gave Ashley’s shoulder a little squeeze.

“Are you sure? I mean, the others might get a bit mad if they find out, won’t they?”

“Who’s going to tell them?” Rick said 

“Not me,” Daryl added and Ashley just nodded her head in agreement. Rick patted Ashley’s leg and then he stood up.

“Ashley, I’m sorry about your brother, but you are welcome to join our group if you want to. Now I’ll leave you two alone.” Rick looked at Daryl when he said the last part. He then walked off in the direction of the farm.

Daryl took the spot where Rick had been sitting. He looked out at the running river and smiled as he watched a fish trying to jump out of a small trap he had set earlier. Letting out a sigh he turned to face Ashley.

“Sorry about Alex.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine. I was just expecting Rick to kick me out after what I just told him.”

“He’s a good man. He carries too much for a man his age, but he carries it well. If Rick thought what had happened was a threat to the group, it would have been different. But it wasn’t. So are you going to stay?”

“Do you want me to?” Ashley asked cocking her head to one side as she watched Daryl think.

“I would like it if you stayed.” 

Ashley smiled at him. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe, like she belonged. And as Daryl’s arm slide around her shoulders pulling her close to him she knew that Daryl and Rick would keep her secret safe. 

Daryl looked down at Ashley and for the first time, since he had met this woman, he felt her relax. Pulling Ashley a bit closer, they shared their first kiss. A kiss, which they both knew, would lead to many more. 

The End


End file.
